Principles for Relationships from God's Word by Claudio Consuegra

Smell Happiness

And he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: “Surely, the smell of my son Is like the smell of a field Which the LORD has blessed. Genesis 27:27 (NKJV)

European researchers have learned that happiness may generate chemicals that get secreted in sweat, and that sweat signal gets sniffed by those around us. Evidently we not only breathe in the upbeat emotions of others, but by doing so we actually become happier ourselves.

As Alan Mozes[i] reports, research has already demonstrated that negative emotions, such as fear or disgust, can be communicated via odors in sweat. In the study, however, sweat didn’t always produce a contagious response in the smeller.

So, what is it exactly that makes “happy sweat” infectious? The authors of the study acknowledge that they have not demonstrated what the nature of the “happy” chemical compound is in sweat. But what the study suggests is that a positive emotion can be communicated, not just with body language or words by through a person’s smell. When you think about it, hearing happy people and seeing happy people makes us happier, so we can intuitively conclude that smelling a happy person would make us happier.

The prophet Ezekiel speaks of God’s feelings for His remnant, “I will accept you as a sweet aroma when I bring you out from the peoples and gather you out of the countries where you have been scattered; and I will be hallowed in you before the Gentiles. 42Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I bring you into the land of Israel, into the country for which I raised My hand in an oath to give to your fathers.” (Ezekiel 20:41-42) The happiness of His people bring Him happiness.

In family life, it brings us happiness to see our loved ones are happy, and it worries and saddens us when we see sorrow in them. This study shows that even the smell of our happy loved ones can make feel happier.

Father God, may the happiness of our loved us be not just a wonderful sight but a sweet smell to us.